#it’s really interesting. but very very sad too

[rosesdrop]

Your most striking/attractive features

Pile 1 :

The first thing I'm noticing for people of pile 1 is their head; the head structure and the hair are really enticing; the jawline or the jaw area in general are really attractive and do stand out; also, your voice or the tone of your voice is something that people find very interesting to listen to; even your words and what you have to say are really powerful and leave an influence; for some, your voice is charged with emotional depth and understanding that cannot be ignored once these words come out of your mouth; if you sing, then your voice is soft and makes people emotional to hear it; you may also prefer singing sad or emotional songs. Your creative ideas are interesting and you have some sort of sharpness to the way you think, unusual ideas are likely to come up but not ones that freak people out but those that keep them wondering since they haven't seen that situation in that way until you mentioned what's on your mind, people find it odd but in a good way, you often leave them wondering and on their toes on what idea you're going to be proposing next, partners may think that you are plotting something most of the time and they cannot pinpoint your next action, they get really exited to hear your thoughts but also anxious because your intentions may be backed off by an unstable and out of the ordinary thinking system. you might have a shorter height than average or just be short from your view or other people's view also your height matched with you body weight makes your body shape look very attractive whatever shape it may be..it just gives perfection. You probably have a baby face, or just have softer features which really stand out, this softness that encompasses your overall appearance draws people in. Your face features give off some sort of nostalgic or gloomy but calm vibes..just like the moon, also the moon can be prominent is your astrological placements (whatever astrological system you use or believe in), but it plays a big part in your appearance and overall energy that you exude. For those who enjoy cooking, people that have tasted your food think it's amazing.

Pile 2 :

Pile number 2, the way you carry yourself, your posture, your drive, the way that you express yourself through your clothes, the way you choose to portray yourself to the world is very daring and speaks for itself. You're very fun, very playful, and active most of the time; you remind people of childhood; you could enjoy drawing; that's something that came up, and people like your drawings. You have a very childlike appearance but also mature in some way; there's a blend of energies where the purity of childhood meets the depth of the ancient; your type of beauty can be seen on those Renaissance portraits; where the faces drawn give a sense of originality. You could be someone who doesn't wear makeup a lot or prefers to keep it simple; your beauty is translated in a raw way. Your eyes are very interesting too; they are glowing most of the time and catch people's attention; they're very deep. You're probably someone who doesn't like attention or people staring at you or flattering you all the time, but you often find people staring at you or wanting to get in your energy. It's because you have a magnetic aura, so you attract a lot of attention from people. You are someone who is true to themselves and doesn't like to overly indulge in the material world or care about the current beauty standards that people strive to achieve. You are very comfortable with yourself and your appearance, and well, people find it interesting. People want to find out more about you; you appear to be more engaged in other things that are of bigger importance to you. If you wear perfumes, there is a scent that intrigues other people; you may use a scent that is not very common to them or one that has an unusual but catching smell. You generally don't let your guard down for people, and it keeps you protected. You appear distant, but you may have developed this approach over time as your sense of worth and knowing of yourself have grown. Some people may envy you for that and for your personal power; they notice that there's more to you than meets the eye.

Pile 3 :

Your body is very attractive, and it stands out. For most, I'm seeing tall stature and a model-like body. Your height is attractive and catching; you could be of any height; you don't have to be tall, but your body is something that people really take notice of. Anything you wear fits you—literally the body of a god/goddess—it's hard to be ignored. Your manners and the way you deal with people are very classy and sophisticated; dealing with you is a good experience for others, and you generally leave a good impression upon the first meeting. But there's a duality to you that kind of confuses others: when you look sweet and approachable, you turn out to not really care that much, or people find out that you're not actually someone to be messed with, and when you look distant, people get intimidated to approach you. They find out eventually that you were actually nice, and they were just under an illusion. There's an element of that in your personality.

Pile 4 :

Your legs and how you move—if you practice some sort of sport or dance activity, people like seeing you in motion. The way you walk is attractive. Your facial expressions are super flexible and change frequently; they're also super attractive and symmetrical. People love seeing your ever-changing reactions; you portray your emotions through your face and body language and probably not take notice of it, but others see it and they enjoy watching that. People like to observe your facial features; I'm getting people like to stare at you a lot. You have that entertainer's vibe and energy that people enjoy being near to. You catch attention easily and without trying, and it's fascinating. If you perform some sort of art or activity, as I mentioned, then people find you truly talented. The accessories that you wear and your choice of clothing are appreciated by many; you are perceived as having a high and artistic taste. 

[oh-no-its-bird]

Someone ( @ohai-there ) asked me if I had any thoughts ab mdtb weeks "cultural differences" prompt, so, like, take just the copy pasted reply I gave them (+ some extra) :

I was up all night drawing birthday art and am this 👌 close to blacking out for x amount of hours so this risks being nonsensical fair warning

Uhhh culture shock my beloved, let's seee

Easy answer is the senju are very touchy feely, easily and willingly sleeps around (they face a lot less risk of bloodline theft due to rarity of the mokuton so there isn't as much ingrained cultural fear of being assulted/facing the baby shaped consequences of sleeping around willy nilly)

They can take multiple spouses and it's actually rare for the head of house to have only one wife (Hashirama is an exception bc Mito is a Princess(tm) and so to take another wife would risk offending her own clan culture, he is fine with this and they possibly often take others to bed with them just for funzies (potential hashimitoizu noises(?)))

Uhh anyways so that, they're super liberal with touch, etc. Etc.

Also they don't really do crazy deep romance and are super used to casual no strings attached flings, you have to make yourself VERY clear in what you're doing if you want to actually start a fr relationship bc otherwise many "courtship" behaviors are just like. Casual, culturally acceptable flirting and invitations to bang (the senju have a 101 different ways to proposition eachother in flower language alone.)

Meanwhile the Uchiha are on the total opposite side of the spectrum— they're like super conservative (In contrast to the Senju not having an ingrained fear of bloodline hunters, their very valuable and very vulnerable kekkei genkkei makes them prime victims, which has lead them having generations of trauma fueled insane abstinence lessons)

+ They're a noble clan and regularly interact with the Daimyo's court, so there's even more etiquette culture ingrained into them so they can send anyone into court if needed (While the Senju, who are NOT a noble clan, only ever send their main house, and so only they have to even worry about court etiquette)

They do not believe in divorce, they do not believe in political marriages (tho they do happen very very rarely, it's seen as very sad and tragic when it does) they... sometimes believe in multiple spouses, in specific situations (they can't regularly interact w the daimyo's court and not have to face it as a concept, after all)

So like. Super up tight, hella rules about how to show affection and proper ways to conduct yourselves, months long courting rituals before u even get to kissing, to sleep together before marriage is SINFUL

But they're ALSO super fucking romantic and absolutely insane about having soulmates and one true loves and are just super intense ab all that romance stuff where the senju are super relaxed in it

I think u see where this is going

Anyways uhhh

They make a village and there's tons of culture shock

Then Tobirama, being Tobirama (standoffish and cold, not especially interested in the usual wild Senju sex parties or whatever tf kind of events they're hosting in the gardens) is like, among the most "normal" to the Uchiha (from a cultural standpoint)

And bc of that, Madara maybe interacts w him more like "well he's kind of awful but at least he's not a sex FREAK like the rest of these Senju WHORES"

Umm Madara tries to court Tobirama but Tobirama sees it as him only trying to bang (?)

Which he possibly doesn't even want to do

Tobirama is like "Ah man, if only he were interested in actual courtship, but he has only given me the Senju flowers of "I wish to ravish you in the fields" and not the senju flowers of "I am potentially interest in maybe going on a date" (a proposition that a)he received not too infrequently, and so was not odd, and b) he politely rejected by accepting the flowers then showing Madara that he had planted it in red soil)

Meanwhile, Madara is like. "Wow this courtship is going so great he's accepting all my Uchiha flowers of pure devotion and innocent love in bloom"

Just in general, their clans having different flower meanings could be funny actually. The Uchiha regularly interact with court so I think they'd have to have, like, "normal" flower meanings (or else theres be some implications there of how theye gotten so far while using incorrect flower meanings in genuinely important events) so that means its the Senju who have odd meanings for flowers-- which also works, bc, like, mokuton

however many years ago, a previous descendant with mokuton told his clansmen the ""real"" meaning of these flowers,,, u wouldnt get it,,,

Another fun route could be, like, the Uchiha method of declaring ones intentions to court someone also happens to be the Senju's method of declaring a feud.

Madara tries to flirt with Tobirama only for Tobirama to understand this as Madara telling him to his face that the peace may be ongoing but he'll always hate his bitch ass !!!

[unknown-cold]

Video edited by: @ kellunar on Twitter/X

I really liked this edit, bc it brought up a point that I think many people didn't notice.

It is to see that Caitlyn's suffering is not just about seeking revenge or sadness and anger and that she is now just a victim of Ambessa's manipulation of her, and she is also a victim of society's expectations towards her because of her family name that weighs on her and she feels responsible for her society's view of her. She is suffering because of her duties versus her desires, and what she shooting for versus what people want from her.

I think it's interesting to see this change that's happening with Caitlyn's character. And how the writers want to show us a character who's going to realize that revenge is going to cause more problems and other things happening to her that they're going to show us in the rest of the episodes.

People need to stop overreacting and criticizing characters, I mean literally they make me feel like these characters are real and not fictional characters, Caitlyn there is no stupid nickname they threw at her, like you don't like a character that's okay, don't accept her actions that's okay too, but don't make it personal and say a wrong thing like Caitlyn was going to kill the kid bc she's a cop, and cops are evil and blah blah as if it's a real story.

And there people completely ignoring that Cait is hysterical in that moment, she's clearly very angry and grieving. Grief is the craziest mental health affliction ever, it can drive you to be irrational, why are people not understanding that.

But as I was saying why all these titles like fascist and villain in the show and Hitler 2 I mean this is really ridiculous 😂. Bc she is rich and in a position of power, well what if Cait wasn't like that and was a normal girl who wanted revenge would you still say this to us!?

Bc I've always wondered what if Caitlyn wasn't an enforcer or a daughter of the council family, would these people still call her a dictator or a fascist or all this bullshit, I'm sure they wouldn't bc they're either hypocrites or don't see the point of the whole show. The show is not about politics, but rather about characters and their development. Arcane shows us that there is no hero or perfect character and every character has flaws and mistakes, and that's what makes it interesting to watch. These people really need to separate fantasy from reality and enjoy the show.

And I'm not saying you agree with Caitlyn's actions, but this doesn't make her a dictator too. And of course not, she has a right to protect her people after all. (Do you even know what dictator or fascist means?) Or are you just mixing things up to prove your point, which is basically wrong?

Caitlyn's character reaction is normal, and it's not new. We've seen many characters in different works talk about the topic of revenge, and as I said, the character's reaction of seeking revenge makes her completely blind to what's happening around her, especially since she's not alone here. We must not forget Ambessa, who will play the role of the character who incites Caitlyn to take revenge all the time, and Ambessa will certainly be the reason for showing Zaun in the worst light in front of Cait, just like she did in episode 1.

But of course we know bc Caitlyn will not be like this throughout the end of the show, she will definitely realize the situation and discover Ambessa's manipulation and exploitation of her, and that Ambessa caused the problems that were happening in the two cities.

[herejusttosufferalong]

Let me come out and say that I love this shoot with Luke. He looks absolutely frigging gorgeous, the colors, the fits. I feel flustered! And we finally got to hear him talk, and hear his lovely voice, and it’s a lovely interview. But… I am also very much off kilter because of it. This interview kind of drove it home to me that Luke in his core is a genuinely nice guy who loves a ‘simple’ life in which he can enjoy time with fam&friends, do what he loves (and hopefully for a long time), travel and bask in the sun. And stability in that life. Now what I am actually getting at is that it made me wonder whether L& N are in their core very similar but also on another level very different. And how that is the thing that prevents them from finding their way to each other. Nic enjoys all those things too but she is also very vocal about the things she deems important, her advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, women’s rights, a ceasefire etc. And also willing to risk things to speak up for them. She is also more ambitious, very creative herself and a bit of a workaholic. I really do wonder how they can bridge that. Even though I am a shipper from S1, and I think they have something so special between. And I will stay in that restaurant! Anyways a bit sad because of this despite loving the Luke crumbs!!! 😍❤️

Hard Agree with a lot of this!

While yes, they share similarities, they are VERY different.

This is probably a big factor regarding the current state of things.

I'm interested to see how things progress though and I am very hopeful to see some changes in December.

My original timeline was 6-10 months from June for things to dissolve with a certain extra.

I think things are still on track for this.

[hoonieyun]

no doubt

pairing: sim jaeyun x reader "y/n"

genre: idol!jake, boyfriend!jake, childhood best friends to lovers, smau/written, fluff & a BIT of angst

warnings: nothing really but always 18+

summary: after a long time away, jake is finally able to visit his home in australia for his birthday with the rest of enhypen. unbeknownst to him, a huge surprise awaits for him in the form of his childhood best friend and love of his life.

word count: 4046

jake sighed at his phone for the umpteenth time that day. his bottom lip jutting out into a pout because of the lack of texts and attention he was getting from you. he was so excited to be finally back home in australia to spend his birthday with his members and to get to see you and the rest of his loved ones, but he was starting to feel sad because you hadn’t responded to any of his texts. 

jungwon and heeseung noticed jakes behavior and exchanged glances, an unspoken conversation between the two of them and jungwon instantly jumps to his feet to try and cheer jake up. clinging to him and swminging him around like he was plushie. 

“jake! what are you most excited for now that we’re in your home!” jungwon asks and the rest of the members avert their attention to jake to see what his response would be. all of them knew of the surprise so they all knew what his answer would be but because jake didn’t know of the surprise, he merely just says he’s excited to see his family and show the members around his home. 

“i bet you’re so excited to see everyone! who are you most excited to see?” niki asks, knowing his question was a bit too close to giving away the surprise so jay and sunghoon’s hands fly to cover niki’s mouth to which they receive a weird look from jake. “yeah, i mean my family of course and some friends.” jake says quietly and all of the members try their best not to giggle at jake’s sulky behavior. jake wanted to say that he was most excited to see you but due to your lack of responses, he feels like you’re ignoring him and it makes him a bit sad. 

he hasn’t seen you in so many years after moving to korea to pursue his career as an idol and although the two of you often text, call, and videochat, nothing beats being in the same room as his childhood best friend and love of his life. 

the two of you have known each other practically your whole lives, having grown up together in the same town and having the same interests, it was inevitable that the two of you would be inseperable. jake’s departure for korea was an emotional time for the both of you because it was the longest you would ever be apart and not knowing when the next time you would see each other made it so much harder. 

you had made a few efforts to see jake by visitng korea but due to your life also becoming busy with university and your career, it became even more difficult to see one another outside of a phone screen. jake asked you to be his girlfriend officially through video call one night when you were having a tough time back home. work and your studies were piling up and you were feeling the pressure of everything and jake just knew the right words to say to ease your mind. 

jake just happened to blurt it out and it first caught you by surprise. you weren’t expecting jake to ask you that day but after a short moment of thinking, you instantly said yes. the two of you were a pair and having grown up together, you and jake knew each other so well that people often would assume you were together in the first place. after hearing you say yes, jake flew to his feet and began running around his room cheering, to which some of the members heard and barged in; trying to find out what was going on. everyone knew it was bound to happen so they were all very happy for the two of you. your relationship has been kept underwraps from the general public to protect both of your privacy and after a few years since becoming his girlfriend, the two of you are finally going to be reunited, not as best friends but as a couple. 

the closer jake and the members got to his childhood neighborhood, the quicker his leg bounced because it also meant they were getting closer to you. the two of you lived only three houses away from each other so as they turned into the street where the two of you lived, he could see your house before his own. the neighborhood looked exactly the same as it did since the last time he was there except the grass looks greener and the sky was the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever seen. 

there was so much on jake’s mind that he didn't notice the van come to a halt and the members began to gather their belongings to exit the car. “jake? come on! everyone’s waiting.” heeseung says, the last one of the members to leave. jake who was deep in thought, blinked a few times and realized they had arrived. he wasn’t sure what to expect but the way he was feeling right now was the opposide of the bright and sunny weather that welcomed them. 

—౨ৎ

you were waiting in jake’s childhood home, helping his parents set up for his homecoming by setting up decorations and whatever else his mom may need help with. “are you excited? i know the two of you haven’t seen each other in so long, it’ll be just like old times.” jake’s mom says and you smile and nod at her. telling her that she’s probably equally as excited to see her son. yours and jake’s parents were very close so naturally the two of you would be too. you often visited jake’s parents when you could, having dinner with them every now and then while also having them over to have dinner with your parents. 

jake’s mom could tell you were nervous because she had watched you reorganize the plates over and over for the last 15 minutes. “yn, honey? why don’t you see if jake’s dad needs help with the grill.” jake’s mom says and you look at her with a smile and nod before heading to their backyard where jake’s dad was indeed standing over a grill, flipping several cuts of marinated meat. 

“uncle? you okay out here? do you need any help or want any water? it’s hot out today.” you ask, stepping outside and walking to his side. “i’m okay, don’t worry dear.” he says, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “uncle, you’re sweating so much!” you say, grabbing a clean rag and wiping his sweat away. “i’ll get you some water, just a moment.” you say and soon enough, you’re returning with a cold glass of water and insisting he drink it all to make sure he isn’t overexerting his energy to grill all this food under the blazing sun. 

jake’s dad thanks you and you smile at him, “you know, i haven’t seen you and jaeyun together in years. it’ll be just like old times when you were little kids and jaeyun would steal the ball from you and you’d chase him around yelling for him to give it back.” jake’s dad recalls and the two of you share a laugh before jake’s mom calls for you. “you sure you don’t need anything uncle?” you ask once more and he nods before you head back inside. 

“yes auntie?” you ask, navigating your way back to the kitchen. 

“they’re almost here! go hide!” she says and your eyes widen at her statement. checking your phone and seeing that neither jungwon or heeseung has sent you a text. “yn! the van is here, hide. go!” she says, motioning for you to hide somewhere and you scatter away. hiding in one of the closets while jake’s mom grabs your shoes and sets them aside so he doesn’t see them. 

—౨ৎ

jake’s heart pounded the closer he got to the front door of his childhood home. he was the last of his member’s to step out of the van and he was met with the sun shining bright above them. he soon notices the giant banner hanging above his front doorway that read, “welcome home and happy birthday to our superstar jaeyun!” to which a giant smile breaks out onto his face and his members jump for joy with a group hug as they see jake’s smile. 

“come on man, your mom and dad are waiting!” jungwon says, grabbing jake and bringing him to the front door. he doesn’t even need to knock because the door swings open and reveals his mom, standing there with her arms out ready to embrace her son who she hasn’t seen in awhile. 

“aww, my jaeyun! you’ve grown so much!” she says, smothering her son with kisses and tightening her arms around him. the members laugh at the interaction, jake obviously being treaed like a baby by his mom and the blushing of his cheeks. “where’s dad?” jake asks as he pulls away from his mom. “right here!” he shouts from further inside the house and as jake and the members fill the house, they all see jake’s dad carrying racks of bbq in the kitchen. a chorus of cheers erupts from all the boys, drooling and oggling the marinated beef and pork while rubbing their stomachs after seeing all the delicious food. 

everyone files into the kitchen and sits around the giant table set up by jake’s mom and unbeknownst to jake, by you as well. jake takes a look around the room as the members take their seats at the dining table while his mom and dad place the food onto the table. his members are smiling and his parents are having small talk with the members, asking them if they were tired and hungry; and that they were so excited to have everyone here. oh how he wished you were also there as he glances down at his phone once again only to see there weren’t any notifications from you among the thousands that he had gotten since the last time he checked just a few minutes ago.

“right! are we ready to eat? i hope you guys are hungry!” jake’s dad says and before everyone can start to plate their own food, jake’s mom realizes something is missing. “wait! jake i forgot your cake!” she says and jake sends her a confused look. “cake, already? shouldn’t we have dinner first?” jake says with a chuckle followed by the rest of the members laughing along with him. 

“no, no. this is important. i’ll go get it.” she says and quickly leaves to go grab the cake. 

the members are talking amongst themselves, jay speaking with jake’s dad about how the grilled meat looks delicious. jake’s mom secretly takes her seat again without jake noticing and the conversation suddenly dies down, jake still staring at his phone, doesn’t notice the silence. 

“jake?” his mom says and he looks up at her. “oh, when did you get back? where’s the cake?” jake asks and they all just stare at him… 

no, they are staring past him. 

jake shoots the members and his parents a puzzled look, oblivious to the presence behind him. 

“happy birthday jake!” you say as you approach from behind and stand beside him. 

jake turns his head to the side to be met with a cake that had a photo of him and layla and a candle shaped in the form of his age, 22. a smile once again spreads onto his face as he stares at the photo of him and layla on the cake. the member’s break out into a laugh when jake has yet to realize your presence. 

“what are you guys laughing at?” he asks, slightly pouting. 

“bro, look at who is holding the cake.” sunghoon says and jake reverts his eyes back to the cake and slightly upwards. where his eyes meet yours, a smile on your face as you watch his reaction, shock and surprise on his face as he shoots to his feet to hug you. quickly moving the cake out of the way so that it doesn’t get smashed in between the two of you as jake pulls you into his arms. 

“oh my god, no way.” he says, tightening his grip around yours as you wrap your arms around his neck and over his shoulders. you laugh at his reaction and relish in the warmth of his embrace that you haven’t felt in years. 

—౨ৎ

the sun had set some hours ago and the short but joy filled birthday activities for jake had calmed down. after your surprise, dinner, opening gifts, and singing him a happy birthday followed by sharing the cake; jake could definitely say that this birthday was one he’ll remember for the rest of his life. 

on the inside of his childhood home, the members were scattered around the house, niki and heeseung had found jake’s childhood bedroom and were laughing at his baby photos, jungwon and jay were in the kitchen helping jake’s parents clean up, while sunghoon was being forced by sunoo to do skincare, even though his skin was “perfect”. sunghoon’s words not jake’s. 

jake on the other hand, was sitting in his backyard in a canopy swing with you by his side as the two of you gazed at the stars. something you often did on the phone but just in different places and time zones. you basqued in the moment, just being with jake, in person, for however long it has been since, and not wanting the moment to ever end. you wished this moment wouldn’t end but you did your best to brush that thought away from your mind and to just enjoy the time you two had together even if it’s for only a few days. 

“what’s on that pretty little mind of yours?” jake asks. 

you're silent for a moment, unsure if you should tell him your worries or soothe his mind and allow for the moment to purely just be about the joy that surrounds the two of you. “nothing, just enjoying this moment. i wish it’d never end.” you said, snaking your arm under his and snuggling closer to jake; placing your head on his shoulder. a place of comfort you gravitated to whenever you were with jake. a place of comfort you hadn’t visited in years. 

jake rests his head on yours knowing that there was a lot more on your mind but he respected that you didn’t want to share it, assuming that you’d prefer to enjoy the time you had together instead of the worries of the future. he knew you so well. 

the air was thick as you and jake sat while the swing softly swung back and forth. every now and then he’d point out a formation of stars that looked like something to him. he saw a group of stars that he swore looked layla and now all the stars looked like his beloved dog. 

“i wish this day wouldn’t end.” jake says, breaking the silence and although it had been weighing heavily on your, you weren’t taking the chance to break the silence that would inevitably lead to the conversation of your time together coming to an end. a truth that neither of you wanted to face. 

“is it sad to say that i’ve been thinking about that since you first hugged me earlier?” you respond and jake shifts beside you so that you’re no longer leaning on him but facing one another. he has his usual expression across his face, his features soft, lips slightly shining, and every star in the night sky reflected in his eyes. eyes that you wished you could look into everyday without a phone or computer screen aiding you. 

“i don’t ever stop thinking about you, by the way.” you say, eyes still connected with his. “i mean, you make it kind of hard not to think about you when you’re a famous kpop star but you get what i mean…” you continue, earning a chuckle out of jake. you smile when you hear his laugh and it’s not one of the fake ones you’ve heard him make during interviews or variety shows. its the laugh you loved, the one you heard for the first time when you were 10 years old and you and jake were in your treehouse talking about how some boy was bullying jake so to defend him, during lunch break you dumped a cup of applesauce and a carton of chocolate milk into the bully’s head. 

you heard a laugh echo throughout the room that was filled with gasps but the only sound that rung in your ear was jake’s laugh. when you looked over to him, there jake was, clapping and laughing until he turned red. needless to say, you got in a lot of trouble, but jake never got bullied moving forward. 

jake hunched over from laughing so hard, having leaned over so much he almost fell off the swing, but you quickly caught him; pulling him back up. which didn’t help because him almost falling over just made him laugh even more which resulted in you laughin alongside him. the members were inside of the house looking through the sliding door admiring the two of you. 

“i wonder what they’re laughing?” sunghoon asks. 

“i’m not sure but aren’t they so cute.” sunoo says like he’s never seen two people be so in love. 

“okay kids, let’s give them their space. i’ll show you your rooms.” jake’s mom says and the members all disperse from the window. before jake’s mom walks away she looks at the two of you briefly. smiling at the sight of you two laughing, a memory of the two of you as kids laughing in her backyard while playing with dirt crosses her mind, tears of joy slightly welling in her eyes. 

you fall into his lap as both of your laughter starts to slow down, catching your breath and staring at one another again. you look up at jake while thinking about the next time you’ll be able to share a moment like this again once he leaves. jake glances down at you, admiring your beauty that he wished he could wake up to every day. both of your hearts beating simultaneaously and on the same cadence the longer you two sat like this. 

“wanna go to our spot?” jake asks and your eyes widen. you hadn’t visited your spot since the last time jake was here after promising him that the next time you visit, jake had to be there. “oh my god, i totally forgot about that!” you say, jumping up in excitement. “let’s go?” jake asks, biting his bottom lip with excitement in his eyes. you nod at him eagerly and take his hand in yours as the two of you slip out through the side entrance of the house that connected the backyard to the front. the two of you giggled and you ran and skipped to your spot. 

your spot was a gigantic tree that stood by itself at the edge of a large meadow. the tree became your spot when during soccer practice one day, he noticed you weren’t outside with the rest of the girl’s soccer team. the coach asked if he knew where you were because the two of you were usually always together but when he didn’t have an answer for the coach, he instantly ran off to find you. the meadow wasn’t far from either of your homes so when he ran to find you and passed by the meadow on his way to your house, your bright pink backpack stood out like a sore thumb amidst the green grass. he comforted you of all your worries that day and from then on, the tree became your spot. 

the two of you take a seat once you arrive at your spot. the branches and leaves of the tree spreading far and high above the both of you. jake rested his back on the tree while you laid your head on his lap. a familiar position for the two of you as you often laid like this with each other if not in each other’s arms. 

“i know i’m only here for a week but let’s make the most of it, yeah?” jake encourages you to forget about the sadness that would follow his departure, so you take a deep breath in and agree to do exactly that. 

“it’ll be sad when you leave but it’s nothing i haven’t been through before.” you say, sitting up next to him so that you could look at each other. “what is it that they say… distance makes the heart grow fonder?” you say and he nods with a smile. “exactly… but no distance will ever compare to the amount of love i have for you.” jake says, reassuring you that no great distance could ever compare to the amount of love he had for you. 

“sometimes i get scared that you’ll forget about me.” you say, your voice just above a whisper. 

jake pulls you into his arms and begins to rub your back with his hand. the warmth of his body providing a comfort to you that you hadn’t felt from anyone in so long. 

“i’ll never forget you. you’ve been there for me since we were kids and i’d be damned if i ever let anyone or anything break us apart. you’re stuck with me until we grow old and can only eat oatmeal and drink tea. 

you’re constantly on my mind and whenever i feel any sort of pressure or negativity brew inside of me, i can’t help but think about every happy moment we have with each other, because those happy moments greatly outweigh any sadness that i’ll ever feel. 

i’d rather spend one night together than never being with you ever again. the pain of being without you hurts more than any hardship i’ll ever go through because without the person you love is the greatest hardship one can ever experience. the only way i get through that hardship is knowing that you’ll always be waiting for me to come back… and i’ll always be waiting for the day that i can come back to you. 

there has been no doubt in my mind that you are like home to me and i love you so much.”

jake’s voice warmed your heart with each word he spoke. jake professing his love for you, even though you already knew he loved you, felt like the cherry on top of the beginning of the best week of your life. knowing that’s how jake feels about you felt like you too could endure a hardship knowing that jake would be there to hold you in his arms at the end. 

“i love you too, jaeyun…” you say. your lips connecting, sparks flying in both of your minds as your lips move against one another. something the two of you had been looking forward to since the day he asked you to be his girlfriend. 

“we should probably head back, don’t want the members or my parents to worry and think we eloped…” jake says, chuckling as he pulls away from you. 

he stands, dusting his pants off and offering you his hand, to which you take and he pulls you up onto your feet. he swings his arm around your shoulder as the two of you make your way back to his home. 

“also jake…” you begin to say and jake’s ears perk up at your sentence. “it’s good you came back, you’re losing your accent.” you say and the two of you break out into laughter once again. 

“oh my god, you and every engene have been telling me that!” jake says, putting emphasis where he can to make his accent stronger and thicker. 

the walk back to his house is filled with giggles. 

once you arrived, changing into spare clothes, you fall asleep in jake’s arms. a smile on both of your faces as you dream about each other with no doubt in your mind that he was the one for you and you were the one for him. 

notes: HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKEY JAKEYYYYY (tbh i thought this was a bit cringe because of how domestic and fluffy it was but WHATEVER jake is sweet so i had to make this tooth rottingly (not a word) sweet!!!! happy birthday jaeyun i love u so muchhhh <555

copyright 2024 - present © hoonieyun all rights reserved

all writing here is fiction & not in any association with characters mentioned.

[batboyblog]

What is your Hogwarts house?

you know even as a kid I always felt like the Houses were kinda tacked on, like she clearly came up with Hero House (Gryffindor) and Villain House (Slytherin) and then felt like having just good guy and bad guy house was a little unbalanced so was like "uh... Nerd House!" (Ravenclaw) and finally just loser house (Hufflepuff) so even as I was reading them (and the first one was published when I was 8) I never felt like any of the houses have very district personalities despite how much we're told they do, I mean other than "they are the hero main characters" Ron and Hermione really have nothing that unites them in terms of personality. In a better done narrative the 3 main characters would be split across the 3 not evil houses and have to each use the skills the Houses are listed as having, courage, loyalty, intelligence, to overcome evil (and at some point Malfoy should have flipped to prove Hogwarts didn't just have a built in evil house)

The sad fact of having not like Harry Potter before it was cool is no one believes you now?

I've always felt there were a lot of lot better children's fantasy books that never got their flowers that I got into before Harry Potter. The Young Wizard series by the amazing @dianeduane set the bar REALLY high for me as kid, as did The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs. And of course Redwall and its many sequels by Brian Jacques all those I know for sure I read before the first Harry Potter and after that diet I was not overly impressed as a kid, the first book is good, great even, but the second book is just the first one again, the 3rd manages to do something different and the 4th is okay if too long and then they slide into becoming basically unreadable from there

any ways at the same time as Harry Potter some much better books

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

so I guess thats the answer to that, I always liked other books a lot more, the Houses were never really a part I found interesting in magic school.

[night-market-if]

OMG! are you playing DAV rn? can I ask for your impressions after you finish the game? or first impressions as you go :3

So, I'm not too far into it yet so I don't know how much I can say. Plus, I don't want to give out spoilers to anyone. But, I have a lot of mixed feelings on it.

There isn't really a single character that I find incredibly interesting as of yet. They are all there and I enjoy them, but I'm not itching to go back to camp and talk with them like I have been in the past. Unless there is a Solas scene. Then I'm there. The gameplay itself is very cool and I do enjoy the fighting in it. And it is a solid game, don't get me wrong.

But, so far, it doesn't feel like Dragon Age to me. It feels like a completely different game. And that's not bad, exactly. But it does make me a bit sad. Because those games were my rock for many years.

That all being said, kudo's to the people that actually got it out of development hell and did what they did with it. That was no small feat. And I am hoping that as time goes on, I will become enthralled. But so far, most of the story feels like someone is shaking me and yelling for me to care, and I'm all 'sure, but let me go wander the Crossroads a bit more'.

[kandadze]

Ep 27 loose thoughts

Well, that's one way of snapping someone shell-shocked out of making a drastic decision. I feel like PSJ snapped something in herself at this moment, too. Anyone else found the ancestor's commentary going on in the background while the girls are bawling their eyes out hilarious? Just me? Okay.

While I was waiting for the ever burning wood to activate or something, the moment WX opened the box to reveal dried flowers I choked. ZYC!!!

Baby!Yichen breaks my heart, so impressionable, so open to learn. It's interesting to see that the phrases about suffering we've seen him use as an adult might have come from WX... Not a fan of telling people in mourning to stop dwelling in misery and sadness like it's as simple as flipping a switch (not to mention, she apparently *just* met him for the first time? The heck?), but at least the rest of her words seem to have helped him... so much that he kept the flowers 😭 The irony of her snow metaphor contrasted with their current predicament is indeed exquisite, A+ for that.

Are they going to be saved by the power of lurrrrve??? (At least this time. Still holding out for how that's gonna play out in the finale.) I mean, what other way to sway an ancient creature who's seen pretty much everything there is to see, than to show them something new? What's that? A test for a future event? (I'm getting really paranoid about nothing we've seen so far being real. It's like Alice in Wonderland on a bigger scale. Or Finnegans Wake on a smaller scale. I don't know.)

Oooh Bingyi and Ying Long, our original doomed couple (of self-sacrificial idiots)! I would watch a whole drama just about them. And damn, I can definitely see where Zhao Yuanzhou got his masochism from. Stoppppp not "Just let me be the first star"! (Especially since I just remembered ZYZ's "I'll be the rain...") It's not supposed to be literal! 😭😭😭 Ahhhh this scene just broke me, also because it seems to reinforce the idea that ZYZ *has* to be killed for the greater good. The visualssss in the execution- sacrifice? What the heck do I even call it?- scene though, soooo good!

"Let me do it myself." LET ME DO IT MYSELF??? FUCKKKKKKK DAMNIT HE JUST- ::head in hands, crying forever::

"Remember. This is my choice, not yours. You don't have to bear any blame or guilt." That's not how that works. That's not how any of that works!

Again, we're dealing with choices. But the fact that ZYZ choice was the same as Ying Long's... the fact that YL says that neither he nor Bingyi had any regrets... oh this is going to hurt.

Oh? ZYZ's future is not what he wants? (And wouldn't that be funny, considering ZYZ's own words while schooling ZYC in the very first ep... 9 times out of 10, things don't go our way?)

"You two are really like us." 😭😭😭

I was wondering if they were going to show us what ZYC saw, and not only does the image of ZYZ's body on that dark floor mirror Ying Long's body floating in the water, both ZYZ and ZYC wear the same clothes as in the very few scenes from the trailer that didn't happen yet... These poor sods, they've been Going Through It for almost a decade now with the only end in sight being yet another tragedy (even if the drama seems to suggest that they don't see it that way at this point.) ::head in hands, crying continues::

"My friend is here. We'll go together." The *sound* I made. Everything else this drama has given me aside, the growth of these characters and their bonds is so well done, and absolutely precious to me.

I want Ying Long's hopes and wishes for them to become true. Seeing how there's hints everywhere in this drama, I hope the words of one of the most powerful beings in existence will count for *something* in the end! (Am I grasping at straws? Maybe. Let me be delusional for a bit longer.)

What do you mean, five, ZYC? What's Ying Lei, chopped liver?

Oof this *almost* hug before WX starts feebly hitting ZYZ. It's relief, it's anger, it's fear for the next time, it's all the feelings that became too big to contain. I feel her so much. (I would've started whacking both him and ZYC way earlier tbh 😅) And ZYZ allowing her that release before pulling her in for reassurance, patting her as if she was a scared child. 😭 Cut to PSJ, looking as if she wanted nothing more but to be the one offering the reassurance to WX. Cut to ZYC, remembering that willingly or not, he's going to hurt WX beyond reassurance. Once again, the bonds in this drama!

Wait hold up hold on what? You just removed Bingyi's blood from him, that should mean that ZYC will not have to become a demon, right? So what's that about developing the inner core? (Also, I just realized that so far all they got from this trip was "go east and ask for a dragon scale" lol) Thankfully him and ZYZ had their conversation(s) about titles and identities so being asked to make that particular choice was not completely out of left field at this point. And all he cares about is whether that means that the last trace of Ying Long will disappear! 😭 (I'm so with Bingyi on this one... I would hold onto that last shred of my friend's existence, too, *especially* if they offed themself via my goddamn sword.)

What's with that look after he says that he thinks he has it - the inner core - is there a joke here somewhere? (I *gotta* go back to learning the language, the things I'm undoubtedly missing on!) The only thing I can think of is - did they think he said he's pregnant??? ::dies:: "So what's your true form?" "Must be dragon." "I say you're a mule." "Better than being a monkey." "I'm a white ape!" ::dies again:: Nice to see we still get a friendly ribbing between all of them, and I can breathe after all the angst. Fingers crossed? There's still 5 minutes left...

Oh good, let's talk about getting Bai Jiu back! (I knew there was one more character from the opening credits that didn't show up yet... guess it's the rebel princess.) While Ao Yin is eavesdropping! Talk about good hearing. Sigh, here it comes, another goal they have that will conflict with Li Lun's; they want the scale to restore the sword, and LL not only doesn't want that to happen, the scale could potentially help him get rid of the poison.

Oh for fuck's sake, I think I was subconsciously waiting for Chongwu Camp to show up, knowing that they've eavesdropped on the gang earlier, and here they are. ZYZ should really think of putting up some sound barrier when they discuss important plans, everyone seems to know exactly what they'll be doing at any given moment!

Ahhhh we're getting a nod to that little cough and stumble WX had shortly before this trip. Something's wrong with Baize token? Or with her connection to it? We only have 7 episodes left, drama!

(ZYC is such a good little brother.) Oh great, it was the rebel princess who killed WX's dad? I repeat, we only have 7 episodes left!

Sigh... with only 7 episodes left, we *also* find out that the goddamn 3-face-mask has history with the princess? And has everyone and their mother sat on that little bridge???

This feels like the endless final scenes in Peter Jackson's "Return of the King," my head is spinning.

Note to self, *stop* looking at previews. Ying Lei, what the absolute fuck?

[blueishspace]

Double Life Remixed p.20

*Grian's pov*

That didn't work out quite like you expected it too... but it's fine, Scott hopefully will be interested in the paper eventually... Still, you don't understand why he seemed so uninterested, Scott has always been harder to read but it almost seems like he knows something you don't.

You don't like it one bit, if he does know something then It's going to come back to bit you in the future and you are going to worry until it does.

...

Ren: I can't believe it! They didn't even seem interested!

Ren is much more vocal about his disappointment though... you should have expected it to be honest.

Ren: Was our marketing strategy that bad my dude?

Uhh, not one of your best marketing strategies... mocking Scott before trying to sell him stuff wasn't exactly your smartest idea. No point in regretting it now, It's not like you can reverse time...well you maybe can but that would be straight up cheating and the spectators wouldn't appreciate it.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a knock on your door...

Ren: Oh! Is it Scott!?

You don't think so, it wouldn't be like Scott to change his mind so quickly... You don't share your thoughts with Ren though, not until you open the door and It's -

Ren: BigB?

BigB: Hiii guys.

Why is he here... Alone? Is this a trap? So soon in the game? No... It doesn't make sense. Why is he here then??

Ren: Oh! Did you come to buy paper?

You really really doubt he is...

BigB: Oh, no no no! Definitely not.

Ren: Oh.

And you were right unfortunately, Ren looks very dejected about it though... It's a bit sad actually.

BigB: I want to join you guys!

Oh ...that makes sense? You guess?

Grian: And your soulmate?

BigB: Nope! Just me.

...

Wait.

...

What.

Prev Next First

[sweetshuga]

Heather ✰ MS [Bonus]

───~𓆩♡𓆪~───

bsf!matt! His inner turmoil and bad decision. Matt's 3rd person pov of part 2.

wc. 771

note. English is not my first language! Not proofread!

Your heart ached painfully as more tears fell down your face, but what could he possibly do when you’ve locked yourself in the bathroom and refused to open it—

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a key twisting in the bathroom door lock.

Groaning quietly to himself as he retrieved the key to the bathroom door. The key sliding in and making a soft clicking sound as the lock opened. His heart dropped when he took notice of the state you were in.

"Hey... are you alright?" Matt crouched down, kneeling in front of you. Seeing you hug your knees tighter while looking away from him tugged at his heart, and the blatant lie didn’t help one bit. He had a clue as to why you cried, but didn’t want to be too hopeful.

Matt let out a sigh of relief, thinking that whatever was wrong wasn’t anything serious, but the relief disappeared as fast it appeared when he saw the small droplets of tears splattering on your bare knees.

"Look at me, pretty," he whispered, gently tilting your chin. His gaze raked over you face, seeing the fresh streaks of tears made his heart ache, but a small side of him couldn’t help but think how cute you looked.

He gently pulled you into a gentle embrace, silently conveying his feelings, hugging you tighter when he heard those soft broken whimpers and sobs. His own eyes threatened to tear up at the sound of you breaking down.

𓆩♡𓆪

He could feel you slowly calming down, your breathing slowing down and the soft sniffles replacing the quiet sobs. His heart ached more when he pulled away slightly to look at your face, his hand almost subconsciously came up to wipe your tears. "Feel better?" He watched as you nodded and wiped your face with the cuffs of your hoodie.

Matt watched as you stood up, seeming very fidgety and looked almost embarrassed, biting back a soft chuckle as he stood up beside you.

He couldn’t control his hand from reaching towards your arm but reminded himself that it would be better if he kept his feelings to himself. His hand dropped back to his side, conflict of emotions swirled through his head.

"Say..." Matt found himself talking, trying to ignore the way he could hear his own pulse in his ears. "Why did you cry?" He couldn’t believe he was asking you this, unable to wait to hear you reply, he immediately talked again.

"Was it because I was talking about, you know... her? " He saw the way you froze, taking it as a sign that what he said might be a clue, "I might be way off with this, but it’s been bothering me for a while," he admitted, looking at your face for any other signs.

He felt a rush of nervousness as he spoke his next words, "do you perhaps... like me?" He cursed himself internally, maybe he was being too straightforward.

"You don’t, right? I mean, we’re friends and you know I see you as basically my younger sister, right?" Matt winced internally when he grasped the weight and meaning of his own words, but it was too late to take it back.

Seeing your mood dampen slightly, but your attempts to keep the mood light with jokes were like a punch to his gut. Hearing you say he wasn’t your type made him feel a twinge of sadness, wishing he was and wondering if you were just lying again. He sighed, telling himself that maybe you weren’t interested after all.

Matt suppressed his emotions with a chuckle, "alright, alright, you don’t have to bruise my ego like that," he bantered back, noticing your attempt to lighten up the mood. He couldn’t be feeling this bad knowing he was the one that just told you all that bullshit, but here he was.

His gaze landed on Chris who just stumbled out of his room, looking sleepy and grumpy. Watching as he halted in his step, his eyes darting back and forth between you and Matt, confused but annoyed, "can you guys like not stand there? I have to piss really badly." Matt stiffled a soft chuckle as he exited the bathroom with you.

𓆩♡𓆪

The rest of the day went on as planned, but he couldn’t get rid of the drop in his gut. Did he make a mistake? Should he talk to you again? He didn’t know what to do, or what was the right decision, but one thing was for sure—he had made a bad decision. The storming emotions swirling inside Matt matched the thunderstorm outside.

𓆩♡𓆪

part. 1 2 3

Masterlist 𓆩♡𓆪 Taglist

Taglist: @strnilolover @mattsfavoritestar @sophand4n4 @tpwktahlz @lilyyliloo @slut4angstt @pvssychicken @poolover123 @loud-sturniolos @inlovewchrissturniolo @queenshet @chrisstopherfilmed @billiesbabya @h3arts4nat @moosegirl96 @sofiaaguilaxx @sturniolo-fann @goingtojohnkramershouse @sturniolosluttt @chrislilcumslvt @mattsninja @bilssturns @sturnioloszn @slvtf0rchr1s @knowingnothingnoel @shadowthesim @brookheartsmatt

Special taglist: @mattsredgaphoodie @blahblahblahm @sturniolosobsessed @emmaweasley @lvrsturniolo

© sweetshuga

[the-french-laundry]

The Problem with Claire Bear (and how to fix it in S4 without making Clairmy endgame)

This critic is focusing on the writing and is not meant to be an attack against the actress in any way! Also this is my personal opinion.

I must confess, that i am relatively new to the fandom, but 'the Bear' has a chokehold on me for a couple of weeks now. The way it has so many different characters and tries to explore their personalities, their shortcomings, their problems and anxiety, hooked me from the start and i loved to see how they developed over the three Seasons, we have now. But then there's Claire. And she just doesn't work at all.

The number thing and Claire accepting anything

When she first appeared in the supermarket and had that talk with Carmen Berzatto, i couldn't shake off the feeling that this whole scene was very awkward and almost non-human. Of course, we know that Carmen can be socially awkward and seeing his old childhood friend, which he ghosted, is a weird situation for a lot of people. Given his own difficulties to deal with situations like that, it makes sense why he gave her a fake number. I know, she asked multiple times if it is okay, but the whole number thing is a clear sign that he is either avoiding contact, because he doesn't feel ready enough to deal with a past relationship or that, deep down, he doesn't actually want it and uses it as an excuse so that he doesn't have to say it out loud.

Seriously, if i would've been Claire, that would be a RED FLAG for me and i'd stop trying to force any contact. But the script wanted a romance, so it literally made Claire an all forgiving person. She just takes Carmen's bullshit and never truly questions it or tries to make him question those things. She always reassures him, that he's doing good and all, which is supportive and cute, but it doesn't help Carmy's broken personality in any way. It never questions, it never tackles his character to move past this. And in the end, it doesn't help Claire too because this relationship feels very one-sided. She's always there for him, tries to keep the contact, supports him, confesses her love first (even though if it was via voicemail), but Carmy isn't able to give it back to Claire in any form.

Claire got no personality

This is very obvious, but it needs to be said. The script gave Claire nothing to create an interesting or engaging personality. After i finished Season 3 i did a small recap in my head and all i could say about her is: She was Carmy's girlfriend and she is working as a doctor. That's all. And it made me bonkers somehow, because 'The Bear' has so many well-written female characters - Sydney, Tina, Natalie, Donna, Chef Terry. Even Jessica and Tiff, without having much screentime, had more developed character traits that made them stand out. But the script is not able to give Claire something that would make her more than just Carmy's forced relationship!? We rarely see, why she even has this crush on him - maybe due to their childhood friendship, any special moments they'd shared in the past before they met again at the supermarket? No, nothing and i think this is sad. Because with all that, Claire becomes a character, that can be easily written out of the script, without leaving a hole in the story.

Carmen would still have his New York David Fields trauma, mixed with the death of his brother Michael, he would still pressure himself. The rest could be easily explained through the dynamic he has with Sydney and the team - the fear of letting them down, of being not good enough, of not deserving happiness at all etc.

An environment of forcing it

Now it gets a little bit personal. When i was younger, i had a best friend, whom i really liked - but just as a friend. At one point however he started to have feelings for me and asked, if we shouldn't just try and see where it gets, which i didn't want out of fear that it might ruin our friendship. A lot of friends we both known at that time, told me multiple times that we would be such a great match, that he really cares for me and we would be cute together. It gaslighted me into the believe that, well... maybe i should just try. Also because i didn't want to disappoint my best friend. In the end, it was a mess and it ruined our friendship. But why am i telling this story? Because Carmy's and Claire's relationship kind of reminds me of that.

The people around Carmy are constantly talking about Claire, about her being a saint and that she is good for him, that they totally match and that he has a crush on her (e.g. in the conversation with Richie and Michael during the Christmas episode). Yet it never really feels like Carmen loves her deeply enough to make a long-term relationship work. He cares for her and likes her, that much is clear, but i feels forced, whenever they share moments together - not from Claire's side, but from Carmy's side. As if he always has to reassure himself, that he indeed loves Claire. And my theory about his flashbacks of their time together, is that it is more because of his own guilt. He never wanted to hurt Claire and he understands that what he said was deeply painful to her. Confessing that to himself is hard and an apology is needed. But i don't think it would be good if they straight up reset their whole relationship.

What can S4 do to save this mess?

The apology is a big thing that is in fact needed. To jump over his own shadow and to find piece for himself and for Claire, Carmen needs to apologize to her. By talking about what happen and recognizing how bad he'd treated her during the walk-in freezer incident, he also gives her the chance to close that case for herself, so that she doesn't think it was her own fault and therefore she can move on with her life. But it would also make sense that Carmen reflects if he really loves her as deep as he thought he would. In my opinion, the script didn't give us enough to undermine the argument that he does. So looking at that, it would be great to see how he confesses to her, how he'd always thought they were meant to be, but in the end his feelings were not enough for that to happen, that he got carried away by the expectations of those around him and his own anxiety. And maybe we learn, that Claire experienced something similar to that, realizing that they could've been great friends but weren't meant to be more.

Even though i don't like the character of Claire, given the fact that she is in the series now, it would only be fair to close her character arc with an apology and a wholesome conclusion for both her and Carmy before they part ways.

-

Thanks for coming to my short TED Talk. Feel free to tell me your thoughts or add the things i might've missed.

[dyrewrites]

Seeing AI covers when looking at indie published ebooks makes me sad, not angry, but sad.

I want to tell authors that it's not so hard to make covers, that they can do this thing and make something eye-catching and interesting. They don't have to break the bank on a professional or resort to AI.

Then I remember I am an artist too and even though I don't consider myself very good at it, or anything near 'cover artist', there's skills there that make it easier for me.

So it is annoying trying to help in that regard.

Instead I say hop onto a site like Canva and see what you can come up with on your own. Study covers in the genre you're writing, to learn what 'design' screams your genre, and play around. Go take some photos to mess with, look into pre-made covers if you can find any not using AI (I could not tell in my searches), but don't despair because you can't art and can't afford an artist.

Anyone can be an artist, it really just takes practice.

What's important to know for covers, specifically, is readers need something that gives an idea of what's inside, it doesn't have to be perfect.

And remember, you can always re-release the book a few years down the line with a shiny new cover and some extra goodies...you know, when you've hopefully sold enough to afford it.

[angeltannis]

I both love and hate deep diving into Actiblizz stuff bc it’s fascinating but SO depressing… the devs in tweets, AMA answers and even interviews being forced to recite verbatim shit Bobby Kotick wrote that they knew were bold-faced lies… Jeff Kaplan being forced to go on stage at Blizzcon 2019 in front of millions of fans and promise a game that he knew was never going to come out with all the bells and whistles he was hyping up because Bobby wanted to “shift the news cycle” away from the Hong Kong thing… and then the longer Overwatch 2 took to develop, the execs started Punishing them by “starving” the team of resources and funding until they didn’t have anywhere CLOSE to the ability to create the OW2 they dreamed of making… and that was, of course, Bobby’s goal in the first place, since the execs outright told the devs who were lovingly crafting this campaign mode that it wasn’t going to make enough easy money, and that they needed to go the route of Microtransaction Battle Pass Hell instead

[luthanraels-bignaturals]

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else talking about how karmic Fitzjames’ fate was.

From the perspective of the artic, it’s a revenge story. His wounds- the wounds he always bragged about, which he got from helping imperialize and plunder, wounds he got from people trying to protect their homes- literally reopening themselves???? This place wants us dead??? “Our ghosts have strong hands and long memories” type beat????

[turtleblogatlast]

Small but significant character moments that I actually really adore are from both the times we see the boys as tots. There is a reoccurrence that happens in both of them that I find so incredibly interesting.

For the turtle tot short, Splinter leaves the boys with weapons. In the short, Raph is the one who suggests they do “what Lou Jitsu would do” and Leo is the one who takes point when Splinter comes back to reprimand them. Leo, in taking point, is the one to defend them and get Splinter off their tails.

And then, in the flashback regarding the Kuroi Yōroi helmet, Raph is the one who grabs and throws “Skully” as a way to replace their missing ball which breaks it into pieces, but Leo is the one who speaks for the group and rushes into action to fix the teapot.

I love this for multiple reasons, but the biggest are how it shows that Raph has always been inclined toward the bold and fun and making the plans to include his brothers in what he loves and believes they’d love, whereas Leo has always been inclined to be the “Face” of the group and shoulder the attention even if it’s potentially negative all while coming up with on the spot attempts to fix the situation.

[devilsskettle]

not only was i correct about this and think saying “the story is ONLY about what the story is about!!” is stupid but also i think the substance does more than “beauty standards are bad :( it makes girls sad” thing like i think the criticism is so specific to women in the film industry and not just that it makes women in general feel insecure but ageism is an actual structural issue for women with careers in hollywood and all the double standards and power dynamics involving men and sure that message has been “done before” but the fact that it’s still a problem means those stories need to continue to be told and if men complain that it’s “too on the nose” that means it’s something they can’t ignore just because it makes them uncomfortable. they SHOULD feel uncomfortable! the substance achieves that very well. also there is a fascinating perversion of the mother/daughter relationship at play or at least an intergenerational conflict in which both the older and younger generations of women are commodified but put in competition with each other, blaming each other for the limited spaces for women in their field rather than acknowledging that that limitation is institutionally imposed. etc.

i also think it’s interesting how little i’ve seen about the ending/“elisasue” maybe because of how much body horror is involved, it’s a carrie-esque scene without the audience really being able to project a power fantasy onto it because of elisasue’s monstrous appearance and how completely crushed her aspirations are in that moment. i literally sobbed watching that scene hahaha but i think that the pity it invokes in the viewer is overwhelming and not cathartic in the same way that carrie is, i think it actually discourages identification with elisasue in that moment and like i’ve said we all think we’re carrie in part BECAUSE of the catharsis of the ��underdog getting revenge” ending and also because in film adaptations she’s generally more conventionally attractive than she is in the book. so that’s something i was pondering after finishing the substance as well and the roles that women traditionally play in horror which can be ambiguously feminist or sexist depending on your interpretation. i think the substance doesn’t let you wiggle out of discomfort by letting you feel vindication for the main character, it’s just horrible to watch (which is fantastic imo!! i love how horrible it is) but i think some people found it to be a bit much, although i think the audiences who would’ve thought that are not really who this movie is for tbh

anyway i think my instincts were right on this one just from reading the reviews and i’m glad i finally sat down and watched it and gave myself some time to process how i feel about the movie, i’m kind of surprised that people are being as dismissive of it as i’ve seen but again it’s just filmbros on letterboxd that i’ve seen saying that so like. grain of salt etc. although i’ve seen people who otherwise seem to have a positive opinion of the film almost confessionally say it was “on the nose” like that’s a bad thing….. why is that a bad thing lol sometimes subtlety is lost on certain audiences

another thing that pissed me off today was reading letterboxd reviews of the substance by men saying it was too on the nose basically like it hits you over the head with the “shallow, overdone” theme of beauty standards for women in the entertainment industry or whatever and it “doesn’t have anything else to say” (i was under the impression that that WAS the premise of the film??? what more do you want it to say). one guy was like this movie ignores the body positivity movement and the great strides we’ve made as a culture etc etc like shut the fuck up!!!!! shut up!!!!!! apparently you haven’t noticed that we are actively regressing in terms of the body positivity/body neutrality/anti diet culture movements.“beauty” and makeup culture, diet culture, plastic surgery, and other trends and social mores that dictate women’s appearances are extremely ingrained in our pop culture consciousness rn. marketers might use different terms to disguise what they’re doing like the bastardized “choice feminism” but it’s just the same shit repackaged and we’ve barely made any progress. if you think we’re past the point where “beauty standards are bad” is a useful message in a film, you are wrong!!!!! i haven’t even seen this movie yet, i was trying to decide if i wanted to go see this movie, and that attitude just rubs me the wrong way. it’s like trying to find an excuse why people don’t want movies with overtly feminist themes — is it “too on the nose” and unnecessary or do you just not want there to be movies with overtly feminist themes